Flooding again cuts into business owners' prime time to make money

Bob Blanke said he can take only what Mother Nature gives him.

But, at this point, Mother Nature hasn't given him much.

The owner of Fox Fun Inc., a new shuttle service on the Chain O' Lakes, said he has only had one decent weekend since launching his business on May 17.

"We were supposed to launch May 3, but it was so cold that we pushed it back," he said. "Yeah, it seems like I just can't catch break."

Throughout the Chain and Fox River, business owners like Blanke are throwing their arms up in disgust as floodwaters and bad weather once again wipe out prime money-making weekends.

Last summer, Chain businesses that rely on seasonal boating money lost the last weekend of August and the first weekend of September -- including Labor Day -- because floodwaters crested only inches below where they are now.

Then, another round of floods in April wiped out any pre-Memorial Day business, followed by cold weather and rain over Memorial Day weekend. Next came the latest round of floods and record-high gas prices.

"This has been rough because the floods have taken place right in the middle of boating season," said John Haley, co-owner of Blarney's Island on Grass Lake in Antioch. "It takes a lot of the profit out of us. Two years without profits really hurts."

The Fox Waterway Agency and Illinois Department of Natural Resources has officially closed the Chain O' Lakes and the entire Fox River from the Illinois-Wisconsin border south through McHenry, Kane and Kendall counties for safety reasons.

About 15 businesses around Fox Lake and Antioch and Grant and Antioch townships, are waterlogged, with about half of those shuttered and closed.

"Last Sunday, I sent all my employees home at 1 p.m.," said Pete Jakstas, owner of Mineola Marina in Fox Lake. "That was on a Sunday during boating season. I haven't done that in 55 years of business."

Jakstas said between gas prices, floods and cold weather, his business is down at least 75 percent over previous years.

"It used to flood once every five or seven years, but this is three times in one year," he said. "Businesses can't handle this. They're just getting killed."

Haley said Port O' Blarney on Grass Lake Road is open, but the island bar -- that has become a tourist destination -- is inundated with 2 feet of water and won't be open until the water recedes.

"It's Mother Nature, man. What can you do?" he said.